Charles S. "Charlie" Horner

A Celebration of Life for Charlie was held on Thursday, July 10, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at Antelope Park Church of the Brethren in Lincoln, Nebraska. Pastor Sue Smith presided over the Service. Pat Friesen was the pianist and she accompanied the congregation in the singing of "Help Us To Help Each Other" and "We Are A People Of God's Peace." She also played special music, "On The Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe." A private Committal of Ashes was held at the Bethel Church Cemetery, Carleton, Nebraska. Memorials are suggested to the Antelope Park Church Of The Brethren or the Lincoln Habitat For Humanity. Charles Stephen “Charlie” Horner passed away on June 20, 2025. Charlie was born on November 26, 1943 in Randsburg, CA to Milo and Ruth (Miller) Horner. After spending his first three years in the Mojave Desert, Charlie’s family returned to Nebraska where he grew up on a farm north of Carleton with his sister Beverly. He attended elementary school in Carleton, graduated from Shickley High School in 1962, received a Bachelor of Biology degree from McPherson College and earned a Masters from Emporia State University. Charlie married Sigrid Wagner of Wiley, CO on December 27, 1969. Their daughter Michelle was born in 1974, followed by son Michael in 1976. He was a dedicated father who worked hard to give his family a wonderful life filled with hand-built treehouses, camping vacations, and multiple trips to Sigrid’s birth country Germany. Charlie began his professional career teaching high school science in Kansas, followed by ten years working on the family farm in Nebraska. His teaching career continued in Colorado, and upon retirement from teaching, he drove school buses for Lincoln Public School for 14 years. On summers off from teaching, Charlie often took on other work to fund family trips and educational opportunities for his children. Service to others was an important part of Charlie’s life. He and Sigrid frequently volunteered for Brethren Disaster Ministries, including after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. They were also active members in Church of the Brethren congregations in Carleton, Wiley, CO, and Lincoln, and served as camp managers at Camp Colorado. For many years, Charlie was active with Habitat for Humanity of Lincoln. Several of Charlie’s hobbies proved him to be an engaging entertainer: he helped share the Gospel through puppetry with the Bethel Puppeteers; spread joy and laughter as Chuckles the Clown; and demonstrated how science could be fun as Professor Oops. He was also an active woodworker, specializing in toys, carved signs, and household furniture. Outdoor activities kept Charlie on the go. He loved camping, rode three times in the Bike Across Kansas bike ride, and, at the age of 80, took up kayaking. A lifelong love of trains found Charlie becoming active in model railroad clubs in Lincoln, Beatrice and Omaha, and he shared his passion by leading Model Railroad Camp at Lincoln Children’s Museum. For the past three summers, Charlie worked alongside other train enthusiasts at a work camp for the Friends of Cumbres & Toltec Railroad in Chama, NM. It was at the end of this year’s work camp that Charlie passed away. He left this world doing something he absolutely loved. Charlie is survived by his wife Sigrid; daughter Michelle Horner (Lincoln, NE); son Michael Horner and husband Corwynn Romberger (North Kansas City, MO); sister Beverly Burger (Perryton, TX); sister-in-law Tina Grosbach and husband Duane (Enders, NE); and nieces, a nephew, great nieces and nephews, and one great, great nephew; and numerous cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents Milo and Ruth Horner, in-laws Anneliese and Viktor Wagner, brother-in-law Richard Burger, and niece Jennifer Burger.

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Charles S. "Charlie" Horner

November 26, 1943 - June 20, 2025